Skip to main content

Here’s how to disable FaceTime on your Apple iPhone and Mac

FaceTime is a great way to communicate with your friends and family, especially if a lot of your friends own and use Apple devices, too. It’s fast, high-quality, and convenient. But not everyone wants or needs FaceTime, and if you don’t want to use it, you may want to turn it off altogether. Not only that, but a pretty huge security bug was recently discovered in FaceTime that allowed callers to hear audio from the person they’re calling before that person picked up the phone, and while the bug has been fixed, you may still be wary about using FaceTime in general.

Thankfully, it’s very easy to disable FaceTime — meaning you won’t get any calls on FaceTime, and you won’t have to worry about any other security bugs that might come up with FaceTime over time. Here’s how to disable FaceTime.

Recommended Videos

How to disable FaceTime on iPhone or iPad

FaceTime is most used on the iPhone and iPad, so the first step you’ll probably want to take is to disable it on your iOS devices. Here’s how to do so.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down to FaceTime and select it.
  3. Toggle the switch next to FaceTime at the top of the screen. Make sure it’s in the off position.

That’s all there is to it — FaceTime should now be disabled on your iOS device.

How to disable FaceTime on a Mac

FaceTime Mac
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The FaceTime bug also manifests on the Mac — so you might want to disable it there, too. Thankfully, it’s also easy to do on your Mac. Here’s how.

  1. Open the FaceTime app.
  2. Tap FaceTime at the top left of the screen, in the menu bar.
  3. Tap Turn FaceTime Off.

FaceTime should now be disabled on your Mac as well.

Of course, many people use and love FaceTime — so you may want to re-enable the service at some point. To do so, it’s thankfully just as easy. Simply follow the same steps as above, but instead of turning the service off, just turn it back on. FaceTime should then work the way it was designed to work — and hopefully free from any privacy issues.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
The iPhone 16e made me face a hard truth about mobile cameras
OuttaFocus: The iPhone 16e made me face a hard truth about mobile cameras.

I’ve spent a few days taking photos with the Apple iPhone 16e, which has a single camera on the back. One, solitary lens on the back of a current smartphone makes it look rather old school, and somewhat under equipped next to the multi-lens competition. But instead of feeling short changed by the iPhone 16e, it made me face a hard truth. I don’t need a wide-angle camera on my phone as much as I think I do.
One camera is better?

Wide-angle cameras have been a staple addition on smartphones since the days of the LG G5. Most have a 120-degree field of view, allowing us to capture photos of vistas to help convey scale in a way cameras with a narrower field of view cannot. It’s normal and accepted to have a “0.6x” mode in the camera app, and to not see it as an option on the iPhone 16e was quite jarring at first.

Read more
iPhone now lets you make WhatsApp your default for messages and calls, here’s how
WhatsApp.

iPhone users can now get setup so that WhatsApp is their default messaging and calling app.

If your iPhone is updated to iOS 18.2 then the functionality is already available for you right now.

Read more
Top Apple analyst suggests the iPhone Mini is truly extinct
the best call recording apps for iphone 12 mini case feature image copy

Earlier this year, Apple released the iPhone 16E and put an end to the iPhone SE lineup. For those who had hopes the iPhone Mini might return, that doesn't seem likely either. In a Q&A session with Mark Gurman, the analyst said Apple doesn't have plans to bring the miniature version of its iconic lineup back anytime soon.

That's not exactly surprising. Apple basically killed the iPhone Mini lineup in 2023 when it launched the iPhone 14 Plus, leaving the iPhone 13 Mini as the last of its kind. With a 5.4-inch display, the iPhone 13 Mini wouldn't exactly fit in today's market of larger screens, but for users that preferred smaller phones, it was a godsend.

Read more